Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Black Clouds Like a Tidal Wave

Qin Yuan in quick succession summoned three spirit beasts, and for the moment blasted most of the puppets lunging at them flying back.

“Ah! Third Senior Brother,” Yu Ruan Ruan’s scream cut through Qin Yuan’s taut thoughts.

Qin Yuan snapped his head around to see that the inn’s once-kindly proprietress now had no mind at all; her face was withered and ferocious as she clawed straight at Yu Ruan Ruan. Without thinking, he directed the Blood Patterned Black Panther forward, and the panther tore the puppet-woman to pieces, saving Yu Ruan Ruan.

“Blood Patterned Black Panther, go protect Ruan Ruan,” said Qin Yuan as he assigned one spirit beast to guard Yu Ruan Ruan, then drove the other two beasts to blunt the brunt of the puppets’ assault.

His newly contracted spirit beast was the Red Gold Explosive Flame Tiger, with early-stage Golden Core cultivation; faced with these puppets, Qin Yuan felt little tension. The one who truly kept him wary was the Demonic Cultivator lurking in the dark.

Yu Ruan Ruan was still shaken, but the Blood Patterned Black Panther at her side steadied her. She turned her head and saw Rong Shu, who had somehow drifted close. [Huh?]

Sensing Yu Ruan Ruan’s gaze, Rong Shu tilted her head and smiled: “Senior Sister Yu, you don’t mind me standing here, do you?” As she spoke, she edged even closer to where the Blood Patterned Black Panther stood.

The Blood Patterned Black Panther knew these two were its master’s junior sisters; if it could protect one, it could protect two, so it did not stop Rong Shu from drawing near.

Yu Ruan Ruan felt a tight pang in her chest yet couldn’t pinpoint why; forcing a show of generosity, she said: “I… don’t mind.”

At that, Rong Shu flashed her teeth at Yu Ruan Ruan again, looking rather guileless and silly.

[An illusion. It must have been my imagination just now that made me think Rong Shu was a bit spiteful,] Yu Ruan Ruan told herself.

Rong Shu felt no embarrassment at all about instinctively seeking the Blood Patterned Black Panther’s protection. She was only a first-layer Qi Refining novice, and Qin Yuan’s group had never intended for her to join the fight. Not dragging them down was already a merit.

Just then, Rong Shu lifted her gaze and, seeing that at some point the ink-black night had filled with dense clouds, she paused for a heartbeat. [Is it going to rain?]

High above, black clouds surged like a mountain-toppling, sea-swallowing tide, as if an enormous black cloth had draped over the entire town. Layer upon layer of cloud seemed to be brewing something, radiating a terror that made the heart quail.

Boom. Thunder rolled across the sky, like an Ancient Dire Beast jolted awake, a blood-scented chill rumbling out from between bronze fangs with a roar that shook heaven and earth.

“Why is it thundering?” someone cried.

“Thunder…” Qin Yuan murmured. The thought came as quickly as lightning and he seized it: “Thunder. Most heretical things fear the most austere and sovereign thunder of heaven and earth. These puppets have no consciousness, but it should still work on them to some degree.”

“Thunder? But none of us has a lightning spiritual root… no, Lin Dao seems to have one, but he isn’t here,” said Dai Zhou, whose spark of hope guttered out again. Regret pricked at him; why had he quietly agreed earlier to let Lin Dao go out to stand watch? Now they could not even find the man.

Wan Li Xuan lopped off a puppet’s arm with one sword stroke and found the breath to snark: “Why think about him? Maybe he’s already run off; otherwise he’s been torn apart and eaten by these puppets.”

Qin Yuan frowned, a chill glint passing through his eyes as he swept Wan Li Xuan with a look: “We are fellow disciples; why are you talking so coldly?”

Chastened by Qin Yuan’s rebuke and knowing he could not compete with Qin Yuan’s standing or strength, Wan Li Xuan shut his mouth.

“Even without a lightning-root cultivator, it’s fine. I have a Lightning Attracting Talisman,” Qin Yuan said, unwilling to stoke further discord; after a light tap to close the matter, he turned to business.

“That’s great,” Dai Zhou said, brightening.

“But to get the Lightning Attracting Talisman’s full effect, we still need actual thunder…” Qin Yuan had not yet spoken the last two words when, at the edge of the sky, a bolt of lightning punched through the clouds and slammed down toward the earth without the slightest warning.

…

A moment earlier.

After confirming the others in Qin Yuan’s group were either sleeping or cultivating, the gate-keeping Lin Dao pushed open the door and stepped out of the inn. When entering Tranquil Harmony Town, he had sensed a hidden gaze watching. The enemy would likely act tonight, so Lin Dao chose to pay them a visit first.

It took him little effort to find the Demonic Cultivators’ den: three in all, two early-stage Golden Core and one at mid-stage. Perhaps believing that no one in the town could threaten them, the two early-stage Demonic Cultivators were drinking and eating meat, enjoying themselves.

Taking advantage of their carelessness, Lin Dao struck from behind. Gripping an iron sword in each hand, with a fine thread of spiritual energy sheathing each blade, he thrust toward the Golden Core points of the two Demonic Cultivators. At the instant he moved, the two felt a flicker of killing intent and reflexively tried to dodge, but in the next heartbeat a tidal pressure carrying the force of thunder pinned them where they stood.

Terror flashed across their faces. Before they could think, a stab of pain lanced their lower abdomens. “Aaaah!” “Who are you—”

Lin Dao gave no answer. He smoothly churned both Golden Cores to paste, then a spark arced from his palm and knocked the pair unconscious.

The commotion drew the attention of the last Demonic Cultivator returning outside. Seeing the entrance to a secret passage ajar, he backed cautiously out of the house without entering. Then he blew a sharp whistle; the puppets lurking nearby, hearing the signal, swarmed madly toward the place. Under his control, they jammed into the house.

A few breaths later, the puppets’ howls cut off at once.

Inside, a man with a cool, clear expression cast a cleansing spell over his right hand where blood had splashed it, then stepped over a floor strewn with severed limbs and broken bodies and sauntered out to face the Demonic Cultivator at the door.

“Who are you?” The Demonic Cultivator’s vigilance spiked; he had not expected anyone to find this place. The two inside still had not appeared. With no sound at all from within, they were very likely dead. The realization sank his heart.

“The one who’s here to take your life,” Lin Dao said, his voice cold and empty of feeling.

At that the Demonic Cultivator actually barked a laugh, voice gone dark and vicious: “Arrogant. With only early-stage Foundation Establishment? I don’t know what trick you used to take the two inside, but I am not those wastes.”

Sensing the Foundation Establishment fluctuations from Lin Dao, he probed several times and felt sure. Demonic Cultivators who made it to mid-stage Golden Core had swum in slaughter and had slain big-sect disciples before. Those disciples typically had sect-bestowed life-preserving treasures that could briefly grant power beyond their own, but such tools had hard limits and could not be used for long.

“Brat, you used your one life-saving trick on those two wastes, didn’t you? You swagger like this because you think I’ll hesitate to act, is that it?” he crowed, convinced he had seen through Lin Dao’s ploy.

But after tossing down that flat, lethal line, Lin Dao let his gaze slide off the man and tipped his chin toward the lightless sky. The clouds above were packed tight, a pressure-cooker of murderous chill.

The Demonic Cultivator’s face changed as he eyed the opened secret passage. He chose not to enter. Instead, his lips pursed in a rapid whistle, and puppets he had seeded nearby came on the run. They crushed into the house. A few breaths later, their snarls ceased.

Within, the cool-faced man cleansed his stained right hand with a spell, then stepped through the carnage and stopped before the Demonic Cultivator.

“Who are you?” the man demanded again, more tightly now. The silence within told its own tale.

“The one who has come to take your life,” Lin Dao repeated.

The Demonic Cultivator sneered: “Arrogant. Early-stage Foundation Establishment? Even if you had a trick for those two, I am not them. Brat, you blew your life-saving card on those wastes, didn’t you? Think I won’t dare to touch you?”

Lin Dao’s eyes left him and lifted once more to the starless, cloud-choked night. The sky pressed low, saturated with killing intent.